1. Field of the Invention
This application relates generally to a system and method for multi-tiered website access.
More specifically, this application relates to an entertainment system including a website, wherein the system provides various levels of access depending upon certain conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet has given rise to numerous interactive entertainment websites in which users can participate in various activities, including games and chat rooms, for free. In some cases, advertisements are displayed to the users in order to generate revenue for the owners of the websites. However, the revenue generated by these sites is limited, since there is no requirement that the user actually purchases the products or services contained in the advertisements. In order to generate additional revenue, some entertainment websites limit access to users who have purchased a product, service or a subscription to the site.
Other entertainment websites have incorporated incentive-based systems in which purchasers of products or services are provided access to additional web content. In these websites, access to web contents, such as games, is provided to all users for free. However, certain content, such as additional games or enhanced game play, is limited to users who enter a secret code that unlocks the content. The secret code can be provided to the user upon purchasing a product or service. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,672 to Vance, incorporated herein by reference, describes a remotely accessible game, such as an internet game, to encourage consumers to purchase a product. Consumers who purchase a product receive access information, such as a website URL and a code, which the consumer may then use to access and participate in the remotely accessible game.
More recently, entertainment websites have been developed in which the web-site content is directly tied to a product that is purchased by a user. For example, as disclosed in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0192864 to Ganz, incorporated herein by reference, a user purchases a toy that includes a secret code provided in the toy packaging. Access to a certain interactive content on the website provided by the manufacturer of the toy is restricted to users who purchase a toy. When the user carries out a registration process on the manufacturer's website, which involves entering the secret code, a virtual world is presented to the user. The virtual world includes a virtual toy corresponding to the toy purchased by the user. The user can participate in various interactive activities involving the virtual toy. The user may then purchase additional toys and enter the secret codes provided with those toys to add additional virtual toys to the virtual world. These virtual toys can interact with each other, thereby enhancing the user's entertainment experiences. Further, after a predetermined period of time has lapsed since the secret code was registered, access to the website can be temporarily suspended until an additional purchase is made and a new code is registered. Thus, for both of these reasons, users are encouraged to continue to purchase additional toys in order to obtain additional secret codes.